A blaze at a recycling plant filled with 10,000 tons of rubbish “appears to be an act of vandalism”, the Environment Minister said on Wednesday.

More than 40 firefighters have been tackling the fire since early this morning at the old Brickkiln site in Derry.

Mark H Durkan said he is “very concerned at the damage to property, the risk to local people’s health and the environmental harm caused by what appears to be an act of vandalism at a waste site in the Enviropark at Maydown”.

He added: “My officials are currently on site assisting the NIFRS and assessing the environmental impacts of the fire.”

Smoke billows from the large fire

Firefighters tackling the inferno are having to use specialist equipment to pump water in to subdue the flames.

The blaze has been ongoing since around 8am on Wednesday and it is expected it will not be extinguished until late tonight.

It is unclear at this stage if the fire was accidental or srason.

Mark Smyth, the assistant group commander at the Fire Service, said 45 firefighters are on the scane along with 12 appliances.

A close up of the inferno

He added: “It’s mainly domestic waste that we’re dealing with and there’s thousands of tons of it. It’s the sort of stuff you’d get in a bin bag, so there’s no indication at this stage of any hazardous materials. There are some difficulties sourcing water at the site and we are having to use specialist high volume pumps.

“We’d be hopeful this is a one day incident, but it could stretch into tomorrow.”

The fire is understood to be affecting most of the 50 and 30 meter site. People in the area have been told to keep their windows closed.

The Fire Service said that "due to the intensity of the fire, the nature of the building and material inside it this is going to be a protracted incident".

They added: "Due to the compact nature of how the bales were stacked within the building the water is running off the surface of the bales and is not currently reaching the seat of the fire within the building. It is not safe to commit firefighters to enter the building as it is structurally unsafe.

“Currently there is a large smoke plume coming from the fire and the advice to householders and premises in the area is to keep windows and doors closed. Windy conditions are forecast for the next 24 hours and people need to be vigilant to a change in wind direction and keep windows and doors closed."